144
ESS-33
Historically, Thailand has not been a major recipient of ODA. The highest ratios of external aid were experienced during the 1960s and 1980s when ODA accounted for 1.1
per cent of GNI figure 79. The most remarkable feature of Thailand, besides its minimal dependence on external funds, is that the country has since 2003 been a net donor of ODA
rather than a net recipient.
Figure 79. Thailand: ODA flows as a percentage of GNI, 1960-2008
Source: World Bank, 2010.
Overall, Thailand has made substantial progress in most social sectors table 15. Poverty declined sharply during the economic boom of the 1990s, falling from 45 per cent in 1988
to roughly 10 per cent in the second half of the 2000s. Inequality is high, however, though authors disagree somewhat in their calculation of the Gini coefficient. The
UNDP’s Human Development Report 2009, for example, estimated that income inequality was 0.42
in the mid-2000s, while Jansen and Khannaba 2009 indicated that the Gini coefficient was 0.50 in 2004.
Table 15. Thailand: Main social indicators
Indicator Value
Year Source
Poverty percentage of the population living below the national poverty line
13.6 2000-2006
UNDP, 2009. Gini coefficient
0.42 mid-2000s
UNDP, 2009. Human Development Index
0.78 2007
UNDP, 2009. Life expectancy at birth years
68.9 2008
United Nations Population Division, 2010.
Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births 12.5
2008 Inter-agency Group for Child
Mortality Estimation, 2010. Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births
54 2005
World Bank, 2010. HIVAIDS prevalence percentage of the population 1.4
2007 World Bank, 2010.
Adult literacy rate percentage 94.1
2007 UNDP, 2009.
Children under-weight for age percentage 7
2009 UNDP, 2009.
ESS-33
145
From a human development perspective, the country ranks in the medium human development group 87th in the world, with an impressive achievement in the education
sector 94.1 per cent adult literacy rate and 78 per cent gross enrolment rate, but life expectancy 69 years lags behind the progress observed in other areas. Health indicators
show mixed results, with a low infant mortality rate but a maternal mortality rate that leaves considerable room for improvement.
10.2. Social protection programmes and social spending
Thailand’s social protection system comprises both contributory and non-contributory programmes covering a wide range of groups, including public servants, private
employees, non-agricultural workers and teachers. The Governments policy is thus, in this sense, fragmented. Social protection was first declared to be a strategic component of
Thailand’s development policy in the ninth plan 2002-06, with its five pillars ILO, 2008a: human development; employment promotion; social protection; drug control and
safety of people and their assets; and promotion of institutional participation in development. The list of social protection initiatives is presented in table 16 below.
Table 16. Thailand: Social protection programmes
Social insurance programmes Non-contributory social protection
programmes Other social assistance
programmes Workmen’s Compensation Fund WCF
Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme CSMBS
Children Social Security Fund SSF
Universal
Coverage Scheme
UCS Disadvantaged women
Provident funds Pensions
Elderly Government Pension Fund GPF
Disabled Private-
School Teachers’ Welfare Fund PSTWF
Homeless and beggars Low income families and
families in need Ethnic minorities
Victims of disasters
Source: ILO, 2008a and 2008b.
10.2.1. Contributory social security schemes
Thailand has established five different contributory schemes, as shown in table 16. The main features of each programme are presented below.
Social Security Fund SSF In 1954, the National Assembly approved the Social Security Act. After several decades
and repeated attempts to put it into force, the Act was finally implemented in 1990. It benefited Thai workers by providing special coverage and protection in respect of illness
or accident, physical disability, death not related to work, child delivery, old age, child assistance and unemployment.
The Social Security Office of the Ministry of Interior administers the SSF, which covers all employees of firms with one or more workers. Initially, the programme covered enterprises
with 20 or more workers, but two amendments to the Social Security Act in 1993 and in 2002 extended coverage, first, to companies with 10-19 workers and then to any company
with one or more workers. The Fund is restricted to non-agricultural companies and is available to the self-employed but excludes the following groups:
146
ESS-33
• government officials and regular employees of various government levels;
• employees of foreign governments or international organizations;
• employees of a company located in Thailand but whose headquarters are abroad;
• teachers or headmasters of private schools;
• students, student nurses, undergraduates, and medical interns who are employees of
schools, universities or hospitals. The SSF provides the following benefits:
• Sickness benefit. Inpatient and outpatient benefits, sickness compensation equivalent
to 50 per cent of the monthly wage, reimbursement for dental care twice a year and prostheses.
• Maternity benefit. In-kind and cash benefits. The maternity benefit is a lump-sum
payment of 12,000 baht per delivery up to two deliveries. Cash benefits are in the form of 50 per cent compensation based on the average salary of the last three months
up to 90 days.
• Invalidity benefit. Lifetime invalidity compensation of 50 per cent of the average
wage, lifetime medical reimbursement up to 2,000 baht per month, reimbursement for prostheses, funeral grant and, in the event of death, compensation to relatives ranging
from 1.5 to 5 times the average wage of the beneficiary, depending on the number of contributing months.
• Death and survivors benefit. Compensation for funeral expenses, compensation for
relatives in the event of death, under the same conditions as indicated under the previous point.
• Child allowance. A monthly grant of 350 baht per child for up to 2 children.
• Old-age benefit. A pension equal to 20 per cent of the last 60-month average wage,
plus various compensatory and lump-sum amounts payable to secondary beneficiaries if the primary beneficiary dies within 60 months of retirement or has contributed for
less than 6 months.
• Unemployment benefit. A subsidy of 50 per cent of the highest three-month average
wage for a maximum 180 days in case of involuntary unemployment and 30 per cent and 90 days in case of voluntary unemployment.
The SSF is financed by a tripartite mechanism under which the employee, the employer and the Government contribute to the scheme. Contributory rates vary according to the
benefit concerned, as shown in table 17. All in all, the SSF covers 8.8 million workers and 400,000 self-employed persons, i.e. 26 per cent of the total labour force.
